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I've been thinking over at Raising Generation O lately about the Christmas Spirit. About giving , and teaching children about gratitude and charity, but also about fairness, justice, equity--and how these relate to the season's spirit. At the end of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Caro l (the real, unabridged, print version)--spoiler alert--Tiny Tim doesn't walk. The real miracle is that Scrooge's heart is changed. And in fact, Scrooge's spiritual transformation may be more profound and significantly more complicated than the pat miracle that appears at the end of some dramatic versions of the...

It all started a few months ago when a friend of mine made a confession: Sometimes she fantasizes about getting into a minor car accident so that she'll have to go to the hospital for a few days. My friend doesn't have a death wish, she's just so stressed out working and taking care of her kids that a hospital visit sounds tantalizingly restful.

The movement to enact paid sick days laws is gaining momentum and implementation in some cities is providing helpful insights. Washington, D.C. is one of them. To educate advocates and the public about D.C.’s law, CLASP has launched a new webpage for information and resources specific to D.C. In 2008, Washington D.C. passed a paid sick days law, the D.C. Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act. The law means D.C. is one of only two places in the country that workers do not have to fear lost wages or their jobs if they or a family member have the flu or other short-term illness, or are the victim of...

This post originally appeared in the Huffington Post When explaining her reasons for killing paid sick leave legislation earlier this year, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said that the economic costs associated with the bill would be too great. The bill's opponents--including Mayor Bloomberg--agreed that guaranteeing every worker the right to earn paid sick leave was the right thing to do, but the bill ultimately lived or died by its perceived economic impact. The city's leading big-business lobbyists estimated how much the bill would cost businesses based on the results of an...

Recently, Speaker Nancy Pelosi participated in a Tweetchat organized by MomsRising. The questions poured in from a diverse group of participants. Dozens of individuals, bloggers, organizations, media and even a fellow legislator (Rep. Rosa Delauro) joined in to chat about everything from the latest legislation impacting moms and families to secrets from the Congressional restroom. Quick media coverage of the tweetchat came from The Hill, a DC paper, which posted this article with some fun and informative highlights minutes after the tweetchat ended. Here’s a sample of the back and forth:...

by Robert Drago and Jeffrey Hayes New data collected for the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) by Precision Opinion finds widespread support across party lines, gender, race and ethnicity for policies that will assist working families and protect workers’ rights, especially for low income workers. The majority of registered voters favor political candidates who will promote policies that increase workplace protections from unfair treatment, and provide paid leave and flexibility to meet family care giving demands—and women consistently show greater support than men. “To excite...

Imagine going to work with the flu. How about having a toddler with an ear infection? When a child in Washington, D.C. gets sick, she may not make it to a doctor if her parent is a waiter or a waitress. It isn’t because the parent is neglectful. Despite a paid sick days law passed two years ago in the District of Columbia, tipped restaurant employees are not afforded paid time off when they are sick or when they need to care for a sick family member. This means many families are in the tough position of having to decide between a paycheck and seeking care when ill. Now residents of D.C. can...

We're outraged that, mere weeks before flu season starts, NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced she won't support the New York City paid sick days bill, effectively "killing" it. For now. Why “for now?” Because we know how important paid sick days are to working moms and our families’ health and economic security and we won’t stop fighting when over 1 million New Yorkers have to choose between going to work sick or losing a day’s pay – and possibly their job – if they stay home sick or with a sick child. Send an email to Council Speaker Christine Quinn telling her know that she’s let...

Last week, Mayor Bloomberg issued a press release advising people who get sick this season to stay home for at least 24 hours. He makes it sound so easy. Of course, Mayor Bloomberg has paid sick days. So, it’s hard for him to understand how the other half lives. The other half being the nearly 50% of New Yorkers who lack a single paid sick day. According to a recent report released by Community Service Society and A Better Balance , entitled Sick in the City: What the Lack of Paid Leave Means for Working New Yorkers , the number of workers without paid sick leave jumped from 42% in 2008 to 48...

As New York continues to waver on enacting overwhelmingly popular legislation that would guarantee working people the right to earn paid sick time, other cities are catching up fast. Consider Philadelphia, where I had the opportunity to attend an event on earned paid sick leave yesterday. Spurred by advocates from PathWays PA , Women's Way and other members of the Pennsylvania-based Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces policymakers in the City of Brotherly Love are considering their own legislation based on San Francisco's highly successful paid sick leave guarantee In a recent study...